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In geometry, a geodesic (/ ˌ dʒ iː. ə ˈ d ɛ s ɪ k,-oʊ-,-ˈ d iː s ɪ k,-z ɪ k /) [1] [2] is a curve representing in some sense the locally [a] shortest [b] path between two points in a surface, or more generally in a Riemannian manifold. The term also has meaning in any differentiable manifold with a connection.
Thus, for example, the path of a planet orbiting a star is the projection of a geodesic of the curved four-dimensional (4-D) spacetime geometry around the star onto ...
There are several ways of defining geodesics (Hilbert & Cohn-Vossen 1952, pp. 220–221).A simple definition is as the shortest path between two points on a surface. However, it is frequently more useful to define them as paths with zero geodesic curvature—i.e., the analogue of straight lines on a curved su
The shortest path between two points on a spheroid is known as a geodesic. Such paths are developed using differential geometry. The equator and meridians are great ellipses that are also geodesics [a]. The maximum difference in length between a great ellipse and the corresponding geodesic of length 5,000 nautical miles is about 10.5 meters.
Solving the geodesic equations is a procedure used in mathematics, particularly Riemannian geometry, and in physics, particularly in general relativity, that results in obtaining geodesics. Physically, these represent the paths of (usually ideal) particles with no proper acceleration , their motion satisfying the geodesic equations.
2 Examples. 3 Properties. ... then it is called a geodesic metric space or geodesic space. ... is a length space or a path metric space and the metric is intrinsic ...
This is analogous to the Earth's surface, where the geodesic between two points along a great circle is the shortest route only up to the antipodal point; beyond that, there are shorter paths. Beyond a conjugate point, a geodesic in Lorentzian geometry may not be maximizing proper time (for timelike geodesics), and the geodesic may enter a ...
The shorter of the two great-circle arcs between two distinct points on the sphere is called the minor arc, and is the shortest surface-path between them. Its arc length is the great-circle distance between the points (the intrinsic distance on a sphere), and is proportional to the measure of the central angle formed by the two points and the ...